AFTER A FELINE DEMON. 59 



tigers and leopards are often pale and dingy in colour, and 

 mangy in appearance. This, however, is not due, as is 

 commonly supposed, to their diet of human flesh, but to 

 age. These pests are usually old and more or less infirm 

 animals, which, finding human victims easier to obtain tlian 

 more active and wary ones in the shape of deer or cattle, 

 consequently take to habitually preying upon them. 



On one occasion, during my sojourn in Kumaon, I had 

 an exciting hunt after a perfect feline demon. I was on 

 a visit at Almora, the capital town of the province, when 

 a report was brought in that a leopard had temporarily 

 established itself in some terraced rice-fields near a village 

 about half a mile off. It had that morning given a forci- 

 ble iDroof of its unwelcome presence there by maliciously 

 attacking a woman who was at work in a field close below 

 the village. Two or three sporting members of the small 

 European community of the place were soon on the scene 

 of action, and having collected a number of willing men 

 from the village, at once commenced beating up the enemy's 

 quarters. We had not proceeded far when several hoarse 

 grunts, followed by the piercing screams of a woman, 

 apprised us of the brute's whereabouts. It was standing 

 on the edge of one of the terraced rice-fields lashing its 

 tail from side to side and looking back defiantly towards 

 us, and in the field immediately below lay the victim it 

 had just seized and left. The beast was rather far out for 

 the borrowed smooth-bore I was armed with, and fearing 

 lest I might injure the woman I aimed rather high. At 

 any rate the shot had the effect of scaring the leopard away 

 from her vicinity, for it at once decamped. On reaching 

 the poor woman, we found her lying there with her head 

 and back all lacerated and bleeding, and speechless with 

 fright and pain. Having arranged for her being carried 

 I to the village, we at once proceeded with the beat, all of 

 us vowino' vengeance ai^ainst the brute for this its second 



o o o 



cruel performance of the day. 



